Author Archives: Laura Smith

Andy Daniels Delta native says brand of nation’s largest insurer and father’s legacy made decision easy An open position in a Yazoo City State Farm office and the desire for a more stable career led agent Andy Daniels to follow in his father’s footsteps. After working for nearly a decade at various sales marketing positions and moving eight times in ...

The two men who created the popular Jackson restaurant Amerigo are back in the kitchen, cooking up eateries like Babalu and Table 100 and opening Five Guys Burgers and Fries metro-area franchises. Restaurateurs Bill Latham and Al Roberts teamed together more than 20 years ago at the Sundancer, and the result has been a formidable relationship and the base of ...

When chef David Ferris met with LR Restaurants owners Bill Latham and Al Roberts, it was marriage at first talk, he said. The longtime restaurateurs were tossing around a concept for a restaurant that would serve gourmet tacos and Spanish-style tapas. “It’s something that I’d been wanting to do, and we just hit it off immediately,” Ferris said. A graduate ...

Fine china, home appliances, clothing, books and games are among the items meticulously displayed at the Washington Square Thrift Store in downtown Greenville. “The community has been really good to us,” said Ann Macvaugh, founder and executive director of Washington Square. “We get items from estates – fine china, televisions. This is upscale resale. It’s not your average thrift store.” ...

A 24-hour café called Vince’s that served Leland’s railroad travelers in the 1920s inspired the creation of a restaurant in the same location with the same name — minus the all-night hours. “I’m just glad we’re not open 24 hours,” said co-owner and chef Will Gault. Gault, Cheri Clark and property owner Joe Robert Campbell own the restaurant that draws ...

After six years of owning Fresh Ink, the Jackson stationery, invitation and gift shop, Elizabeth Upchurch still gasps when she gets a beautiful invitation in the mail. That’s because occasionally, Upchurch won’t get to see a project from creation to fruition. “I will just gasp when I see it. People get so many things in the mail — yucky bills ...

A success on his own: After more than a year, Belenchia’s first solo project, by all standards, has been a total hit After working for several restaurants in Memphis and North Mississippi, Josh Belenchia was ready to open his own place. When he toured a vacant restaurant property in Hernando, the concept of Buon Cibo, which opened March 15, was born. The ...

Party atmosphere goes with Gin Mill Gallery Just as the patio for a restaurant in an old gin in Indianola was being poured, a tornado tore through and destroyed the building. For two decades, Tom Bingham had owned the property, doing custom woodworking from the space. For about a decade, he’d operated an art gallery from the building, where he’d ...

Becoming a ‘complete’ success Mobile home supply is largest in state with an eye on higher goals Customers walk into Complete Mobile Home Supply and, on many occasions, aren’t sure what they need. “They make a lot of hand gestures,” said Jotham McCauley, director of e-commerce. “They say, ‘It’s about like this,’ and we have guys who have worked here ...

Swirlz Girls: When you know, you know and we knew Daniel, Root have grown invitation business infinitely Kim Root and Shelly Daniel are best friends. They live next door to one another and go to the same church. Their husbands are both architects. When they’re seen together in Tupelo, people call them the Swirlz girls because they also own an ...